Dave Shapiro Was 'Big Shot' Talent Agent & Pilot

Yahoo

23-05-2025

Dave Shapiro was a music talent agent and pilot who filled his Instagram page with videos showing him flying planes.
"Flying back with @davevelocity," former rocker Daniel Williams wrote on his Instagram story, using Shapiro's Instagram handle, and sharing a photo of the plane.
People is reporting that both Williams and Shapiro, whose full name was David Shapiro, died in a plane crash on the morning of May 22, when the private jet careened into a San Diego neighborhood, setting homes on fire. Williams is the former drummer for the band The Devil Wears Prada.
Authorities have not confirmed the victims' names. But Shapiro's company, Sound Talent Group, said Shapiro had died, in a statement to Billboard that read, 'We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today's tragedy. Thank you so much for respecting their privacy at this time.'
According to The New York Post, Shapiro "was the co-founder of Sound Talent Group (STG), whose clients include bands Sum 41, Story of the Year, and Parkway Drive." The Post described Shapiro as a "music industry big shot."
Other bands represented by Shapiro over the years are Pierce the Veil, I Prevail, Set it Off, Silverstein, and Eve 6, Billboard reported. "He also operates the Velocity Records music label, whose roster has included Thursday, Concrete Castles, and Craig Owens," the site reported.
On Instagram, Shapiro described himself as, "Music agent: airplane/helicopter Pilot👨‍✈️: husband: puppy dad: retired BASE jumper: Alaska/San Diego."
He also ran an aviation school called Velocity Aviation.
That company has a bio for Shapiro. "Velocity Aviation was founded by long-time aviator, Dave Shapiro, who began his aviation adventure early on in life. Although never exposed to it in childhood, he always had an intrigue for aviation," it reads.
"As a young executive in the music business in 2005, the then 22 year old, had earned a small amount of discretionary income for the first time in his life and the very first thing he did was took an intro flight. From that day forward he was completely hooked to all things aviation. Over time his passion grew exponentially as did his aviation experience," it says.
"Over the coming years Dave continued to grow his career in and outside of the music industry. Rising up the ranks at major Hollywood agencies he was able to simultaneously grow his aviation business as well as other businesses including a restaurant, record label and merchandise manufacturing. This ultimately grew to him co-founding his own agency, San Diego based Sound Talent Group. No matter what businesses Dave was involved in, the one constant has always been aviation," the website bio adds.
On Instagram, Shapiro had not posted for some time. In 2020, he wrote, "Been wanting to go back to flight school for many years for my ATP rating (airline transport pilot). For non-aviators, this is the license above commercial. Although I have a career and don't plan to change that I always want to learn more and be a better pilot. Passed the check ride a couple months ago and got my cert in the mail! Did the test in a citation 525 series so I'm now rated for the CJ jets too. Fun times."
He also posted videos showing him flying planes.
Photographer Jonathan Weiner wrote a tribute to Shapiro on Instagram.
"Few people have impacted my life in as many ways as @davevelocity has over the last few decades," it says. "We first met with From Autumn To Ashes 2 lifetimes ago and we've been friends ever since. Dave often thought that anything he was doing was the most fun thing you could do and did everything in his power to make everyone around him participate, and he was often correct."
He added: "I can't think of anyone that lived life fuller and had more of a positive impact on as many people as he did. I don't know what else to say other than my life would be unimaginably different without you and I know you'll be blasting Maiden with Pilot wherever you are. 🖤."Dave Shapiro Was 'Big Shot' Talent Agent & Pilot first appeared on Men's Journal on May 22, 2025